This invention relates to backboards and more particularly relates to medical backboards for spinal immobilization.
1. Description of the Related Art
The dosage for many medical treatments depends on the weight of an individual receiving the treatment. For example, the pediatric dosage of atropine varies by weight of the individual receiving treatment and also varies by the intended use, to treat bradycardia or to treat organophosphate poisonings. Similarly, the dosage of dopamine to treat cardiogenic shock and the dosages of epinephrine to treat allergic reactions, asthma attacks, and cardiac arrest also vary by the weight and age of the individual receiving the treatment.
It can be particularly difficult to ascertain the weight of an individual in an emergency medical situation. Despite this difficulty, dosages for more than half of the medications listed in typical emergency response standing orders are based on an individual's weight. Treatments using defibrillators and certain other medical devices also depend on an individual's weight.
Emergency response technicians typically use a color-coded measuring tape for pediatric patients, such as a Broselow™ tape, to estimate an individual's weight based on the individual's height. This is currently the primary emergency medical device used to estimate the weight of a patient, and it is typically used for pediatric patients. Height is often an inaccurate indicator of weight, and can result in overdosing or underdosing of an individual. More accurate measurements of weight, however, are frequently unavailable in an emergency medical situation. Even if a traditional scale is available, it is often too dangerous and time restrictive to move an individual to the scale, as individuals in emergency medical situations are typically immobilized and are often in need of urgent care.
Without an accurate measurement of weight, emergency response technicians can administer an improper dosage of a medical treatment to an individual. At best, an improper dosage can be ineffective. At worst, an improper dosage can be dangerous or even fatal.